What a fabulous turn out for the Hollister Mini Death Ride! Sixteen brave souls made long drive down to Hollister and the attempt at two of the three climbs that make up the full Hollister Death Ride. From Different Spokes we have Patrick, Jeremy, Bill, Bart, Erik, Rico, Roger and myself, plus new members Michelle & Shance. And from AIDS/LifeCycle (and with a little convincing from Downtown Julie Brown) we have Julie, Julie’s husband Mike, Michael C., Dave T., Robert & Chris Z. After bagels and fruit, we assembled for a group photo, before heading out as the fog began to lift.

Skirting the south end of town, we made our way to Cienega Road, the beginning of Hollister’s Wine Trail, which also goes past the Hollister Hills Recreation Area, popular with off-road motorcycle and ATV riders. We regrouped in front of De Rose Vineyards, which also fronts the driveway to the Pietra Santa Winery. Julie & I headed back after few minutes when Bob hadn’t shown, we found he had been having mechanical issues where his rear brake was dragging, making hill climbing much tougher. All seemed to be ok when we got to him, and the 3 of us were with the others at De Rose in no time.

At mile 17 we regrouped at the entrance to Thousand Trails Campground and then from there it is 5 miles to the Paicines General Store to fuel up for the first of the two major climbs of the day. However, leaving leaving Paicines, Robert had the first flat of the day, I had not heard him holler behind me when it happened (a thorn got him) but when I noticed that he was not behind me anymore. This put us behind the group.

Quien Sabe starts in Tres Pinos and climbs up 1500 feet in just under 9 miles, around Cibo Peak, to end at the entrance to San Benito Cattle Company. There are several spots for relief from the climbs in the lower section along with a decent to Santa Ana Valley Road, where we turn right and then left to continue up Quien Sabe, but the upper 5 miles is all climbing. And according to the Krebs Maps, there is a triple chevron (greater than 9% grade) section. Before long, the first of the group was descending, first Chris and Michelle, followed by Patrick and he stopped and we chatted for a minute.

After Patrick left, I waited a minute or two and after no others were coming down, I continued to climb. Eventually the rest of them did start coming down, and I stopped and took photos as they descended; Shance, Bill, Jeremey, Bart, Mike, Roger, Julie (screaming “aaahhhhhh” as she passed by), Michael and then Dave.

At this point, I turned around and descended the portion of Quien Sabe I had done. It wasn’t too far down before I came upon Shance & Bill; Shance’s tire had come off the wheel as he was descending! We later guessed that the tube must have been getting low to have allowed that to happen. I waited while he changed his tube, and the three of us proceeded down to Santa Ana Valley and into a fabulous head wind, which seemed to follow us, even as our direction changed from northwest to west down to Fairview.

Thanks to Shance’s one man paceline, the three of us quickly caught up with the last of the others just arriving at the Fairview country store, our second lunch/refueling stop. It was nearly 3pm when we arrive, and there was still 25 miles to go, including the 10 mile climb up Lone Tree Road. As we got ready to go, first Robert found his front tire flat (again!) and after his was fixed, Shance found his same rear tire flat (again!) The thorns were winning today, but Roger aka “Thorn Boy” was spared! About half of the group was heading back to the house and skipping Lone Tree.

Part of the reason for leading this particular ride to get some climbing in training for the Big Sur Ride in a few weeks, with 11,000 feet of climbing in two days, 7,700 of it the first day. Lone Tree starts out much gentler than Quien Sabe, but it is more than 2,000 feet in the 9-1/2 mile climb, more than Quien Sabe.

While I felt I should be back at the house to help Bill with the food prep and entertaining, I wanted to at least do a portion of Lone Tree. Mike, Roger and Dave headed out first, followed by Erik, Bill, Bart, Shance, Michelle and myself. Michelle and I rode together as we started out Lone Tree, and chatted and at about quarter to 5pm, I turned around to head back, figuring it would get me back home about 5pm.

Back at the house, the first group were all showered and relaxing, and Bill was getting the BBQ ready, folks were having a great time. Figuring the earliest anyone might be back from Lone Tree would be shortly after 6pm, Bill went ahead and cooked the three tri-tips and two ahi-tuna steaks and we started putting out the potluck. Folks were also getting hungry, so we began eating.

One by one, the eight official finishers of the Hollister Mini Death Ride returned, first Mike B, who described in great detail the small farm house on the right at the end of the road and the gate on the left, proof of having reached the very end of the road. As the other returned, there was much discussion of which climb was more difficult, Quien Sabe or Lone Tree. Consensus was that Lone Tree was much more difficult, especially the last mile or so before the summit.

Eventually all the Lone Tree climbers made their way to the spa, for a well deserved soak after the long climbs of the day. After that, dessert was served including Rico’s fabulous lemon pie. We wrapped up the evening with a viewing of the photo DVD presentation put together by Michael from AIDS/LifeCycle 5, including Shance getting dressed in a dress for Red Dress Day! And it was learned that one of the Day 3/Rest Stop 2 Post Prom Nighters was Chris Z’s boyfriend Rueben (yes, “that” one, for those of you who were there!)

P.S. Bill & Bart were going to go do the Carmel Valley loop the next day. Instead, the four of us ended up going wine tasting along the ALC Day 2 route from Salinas to Soledad, including Rest Stop 3’s Pessagno Winery, along with San Saba Vineyard, 1800 feet above the valley floor near the west entrance to the Pinnacles was Chalone Vineyard, and finally Marilyn Remark Wines. Hopefully they had a nice ride Monday!

Thanks again, everyone for coming down and making our Labor Day weekend special.

On Saturday, August 26th, Rico and Erik led a group of nine Spokers on a brisk ride over Mt. Tamalpais, down to Stinson Beach and back to San Francisco. In addition to the two leaders, others on the ride included Jerome, Jeremy, Jim, Bart, Ray, Les, and me, Patrick. We met at the Velo Rouge Cafe (http://velorougecafe.com) on Stanyan. We pass by this quaint neighborhood hangout on the Jersey Ride. I had never been there before, but since my velo is rouge, I feel a certain kinship with the place. (wink)

We hit the road about 9:30 under foggy skies, the first of several micro-climates we would encounter on the trip. Over the bridge and down to Sausalito. After passing the main touristy area, we heard a police siren behind us. The cop had nabbed Jim for running a red light. Later, Jim provided this information from a cycling website to help all of us when riding in that part of Marin: “The Sausalito cops are not only citing bike riders for running red lights, but officers will also be citing cyclists who do not ride in a designated bike lane, where bike lanes are provided.” (See below for more.)

While waiting, we were greeted by Roger who was on his way to a sailing party with co-workers. I think he would rather have been cycling with us, though.

We stopped in Mill Valley for refueling at some of the local coffeehouses, and then started our trek up, up, up Mt. Tam. Fog gave way to sun, but near the top at Pan Toll Road, the fog grew heavy and was dripping from the trees. After a brief stop there, we made the 3-4 mile descent down to the beach. These types of long, curvy descents are always a bit “white-knuckling” for me. Fortunately, traffic was light and the road was dry and in good condition. I often ask for advice on downhills, and am always open to hearing tips from others. I know a big part of it is experience. I only started cycling outdoors last November, and am feeling more confident on every long, steep downhill I encounter. Baby steps!

We bought lunch at the local grocery store and rode over to the picnic area near the beach. Wind was light but it was fairly cool, so we didn’t stay too long. Some went for coffee while some of us started up the 3-4 mile ascent back to Pan Toll Road. I believe Jerome said that according to his GPS the climbing was the same as the Tour of Napa last Saturday.

On the way back, we went a different route: Down Panoramic Highway to Highway 1. More wild descent, but while this one was not as steep, there was more traffic. From there it was back to the bike trail and into downtown Sausalito, always fun times dodging double-parked cars and jaywalking tourists in downtown Sausalito. Where are the cops now?!

Up and over the bridge and back toward Velo Rouge where the gang disbanded. Thanks again to Rico and Erik for leading the way. It was a great ride with everyone pretty much staying together the entire time.

PS: Jim provides a helpful link about bicycling citations from the Marin County Bike Coaltion at:
http://www.marinbike.org/Events/MGH/CitationRules.shtml.
And check out this comment that was posted on a bike forum: “Better yet 3 month’s ago I was trackstanding at a light in Sausalito, light turned green and I proceeded thru. Cop pull’s me and my buddy over, I ask him what’s the problem we stopped, he said we did not because we did not put a foot down. Tried to fight it in court to no avail, BTW there’s nothing in the CVC that say’s a cyclist has to put a foot down to stop. So I get to go to Bike school for two hours in Marin next month to get my $333 ticket reduced to $50.

Fellow Spoker Russ S. and I did the 30-mile route of the Tour of Napa Valley on Sunday. The weather was indeed perfect and the views spectacular.

After the ride it was off to my favorite Napa Valley winery, V. Sattui, for wine tasting (and buying). Ask Russ about the five nurses doing their own Girls Gone Wild in the tasting room. Let’s just say it seemed like they had been “tasting” a lot.

The 30th Annual Tour of Napa was held on Sunday, August 20, and eight Spokers (Bill B., Erik L., Michael S., Jerome T., Jeremy J., David G., David F., and me) joined a sold-out crowd of 2,000. Some of us stayed at the John Muir Inn in Napa and did a bit of wine tasting on Saturday. We hosted a relaxing Happy Hour at the pool with wine and appetizers.

Sunday dawned cool and foggy as our car caravan hopped up the road from Napa to the Veteran’s Home in Yountville. We were soon on the road, a long flat stretch back toward Napa and some rollers on the way up Mt. Veeder Road. Road was not in the best shape, but the Eagle Cycling Club had done a very good job of marking potholes and broken asphalt.

The climb was long (3-4 miles?), steep in a few spots, but a steady incline. The backside was a bit white-knuckling for me with the bad pavement, but it wasn’t too bad. The shade, fog, and downhill rush kept the riders cool. Back to some rollers before the first rest stop after 30 miles. Seemed a bit long for the first stop, but given the climb up Mt. Veeder, this seemed like the best spot for it.

Quick word about the rest stops: Nothing unique about the food, but it was plentiful. I was thrilled to see red licorice ropes! At the first stop they were cutting the ropes, but at others they were giving out whole ropes. Licorice and Gummi Bears are my favorite guilty pleasures on rides. Water, Cytomax, Gatorade, and lemonade were also available. There was only water at the lunch stop at Aetna Springs when we arrived, but Gatorade soon arrived. At one of the rest stops, they had a violinist and keyboardist, wonderful to hear some live music.

Ok, back to the ride. Following the first stop, we had many miles of flat riding through neighborhoods and highways. On our way back around Lake Hennessey, I started seeing more and more California Highway Patrol cars. We had heard at the start of the ride that the CHP was going to be paying particular attention to cyclists, watching closely for those not obeying traffic rules. But one advantage of all the cops was that it may have kept motorists in check, keeping everyone on the roads that day safe.

Speaking of safety on the road, I noticed a good number of SAG wagons on the course. Happily, none of us Spokers needed their services, but nice to know the SAGs were there. On the other two centuries, I don’t remember the SAGs being so present.

On to lunch at Aetna Springs around mile 65, we finally got to catch up with the Hammer Boys, Bill and Erik!

After lunch, we hit the second major climb up Ink Grade. This seemed a bit more challenging to me than Mt. Veeder. Seemed about the same elevation grade, but longer. It was also getting warmer as the fog had given way to clear skies. And yes, a bit of that 70-mile muscle fatigue was creeping in. But up, up, up. Every corner you turn you think “Ok, this has to be the summit.” Of course, you are greeted with another hill and another curve.

On the steep descent you need to make a very sharp hairpin turn onto another road, with only a few painted arrows on the road to tell you to do so. Pretty challenging to slow from 28 MPH on a downhill to make this turn. At the turn I stopped for some water, and saw a few people miss the turn. They heard people calling for them, and the cyclists were able to get back on course. Back onto the Silverado Trail for a bit of back-tracking from the morning and back to the Veteran’s Home. We hung around for a bit for the BBQ lunch. They had a live band, and a couple of the guys took showers.

On my drive back, I got stuck in a bit of traffic leaving Napa. Hot and thirsty, I suddenly got a craving for Jamba Juice. Just then, I passed American Canyon where a new shopping center was being built. Only one business was open. Yep, Jamba Juice! “Pineapple Pleasure with a double-shot of protein, please.” The gods were smiling!

I thought the Tour of Napa was very well organized and an enjoyable event. Sign me up for 2007!

What a great turn out for the August Jersey Ride, we had over two dozen riders show, and since all reports indicated that Paradise was closed to cyclists from the slide and the repairs in progress, we opted to make the ride to Fairfax for lunch, about the same distance as the normal Camino Alto-Paradise loop would be. And it seemed like a good opportunity to continue on and do the Alpine Dam loop, the hard way.

Stephanie V. led a few riders directly to Tiburon for lunch, while the rest of us headed to Fairfax for lunch. We met at the park on Bolinas Road off of Broadway and ate together, before separating with 10 of us heading up to Alpine Dam. Bill lead the “pain” people, including Bart, Erik, Mark H, Joe & Mark Y, followed by Michael S, Roger, Will and myself.

This was the first time for me to do this loop this direction; the Evil Step Sisters ride is up Mt. Tam to Alpine Dam and then to Fairfax. While this ride has been led several times by either Bill or Dave G, I’ve never been able to make it. So I was curious to find out why we refer to this as the hard way.

The route from Fairfax consists of a three good climbs, the first is leaving Fairfax on the way to Alpine Dam, it’s about 1000 feet in 5 miles, before you head down to the dam. We regrouped there, and then Bill led the six on to the summit parking lot, where they would do the extra 3 mile ride to the very top, an additional 1000 feet of climbing, and we would meet them there.

The second climb is out of Alpine Dam to the crest of Bolinas Fairfax Road at Ridgcrest Boulevard, and the third climb is known as the Seven Bitches, and these two combined add another 1200 feet or so. The Seven Bitches were not quite as hard as I thought they would be, so I guess I was having a good day. We regrouped at the summit parking, figuring that Bill and the gang would be waiting for us already, billy goat climbers that they are and such.

We decided that they must have gone down to the ranger station parking lot, when they were not there on our arrival and did not show shortly thereafter. No sign of them at the first ranger station, but we used the facilities and got some water, then headed down to the next ranger station, no sign there. So we continued on down 3 miles. The section along Edgewood was where the wind was blowing quite hard, trying to blow us into the street. Below that we continuedo on down Moline and Montford to Miller Avenue, which leads us back toi the bike path and the return to the city.

Bill and the gang caught up with us and we continued on back to the Golden Gate Bridge, and a windy crossing, so windy you can barely go into the wind as you ride around the towers. Michael, Roger, Joe and Mark and myself did finish up at Peet’s for coffee.

Another fabulous DSSF ride, sorry I only got a few photos.

As the DSSF participation was seriously reduced in the Out Games in Montreal, so was the number of medal grabbed. Especially since Different Spokes didn’t send their smartest member…

The competition started indeed pretty badly with the Individual Time Trial. Not that I had a poor time, nor even that I got a flat or any kind of mechanical incident. No, I simply chose to take a wrong turn and made a loop around the rowing basin instead of following the Gilles Villeneuve circuit as everybody else. Imagine my frustration and my humilation when the rowing organizer asked me to walk my bike as I was crossing the rowing start (hi, Roy!) 😦 Anyway… let’s move on from this pityful event.

The Road Race went much better. It consisted of 9 laps around the same circuit (but this time, I couldn’t miss it, I just had to follow the pack). This was more technical that Chicago, because there were at several very hard turns in each loop. And the pack was faster. All thos e European who (luckily for me) didn’t go to Chicago, they are fast… So I tried to stay with the front pack as I had manged to do on Palos Hills, but for some reason, they were accelerating the hardest right after each turn. Finally, I got dropped in the seventh lap. I managed to finish 6th of the 40-49 category with a time I was pretty happy with (you can find all the results here – fortunately, they only list the medals in the ITT).
The Criterium got resolved (at least for me) even sooner. Unlike Chicago, this was a real Criterium. It was a 45 minute race around a one kilometer loop in Little Italy. Which means approximately 120 right angle turns and as many occasions to get dropped. They dropped me at the second (where I nearly fell, due to a combination of a man-hole, a bump, a pothole and the pavement rendered slippery by the thunderstorm). After that, it was a fairly solitary race, where I finishe sixth, again.
But we still had the Team Time Trial. During the Gay Games, I had met Keith Wright, the president of Different Spokes Houston. He was also doing the Out Games and we decided to make a team “Different Spokes” with another member of DS Houston, Hana Pinard, who had already competed very sucessfully in Chicago. The fourth teammate was Michael Spata, a German guy they had met at Mc Gill University where they were staying. Since our team was a mixed team, we had a pretty good chance.

We still trained quite seriously the day before, to get the pace line moving smoothly. And on Friday, the day of the race, it went indeed pretty well, so we ended up with a Silver Medal! Thanks to a wonderful team! After the Chicago experience with Dave, Joe and Tom, and this, I must say: racing in a team time trial with a good team is amongst the coolest moment I can experience on a bike.

Our team: back: Keith and Hana. Front: Michael and Jerome

Epilogue: meanwhile, another DSSF member, my boyfriend Ron, got a gold medal in badminton in mixed double with his partner Laura… all the while playing in a skirt! See the first picture in the article. By the way, I wish a cycling magazine would have the same kind of article about the gay Games or the Out Games.